Cloth folding machine having means for control of the edges of cloth unwound from a roll

ABSTRACT

Material is unwound from a roll and deposited in layers by a reciprocating carriage supporting the roll. The roll is mounted on a rod supported in two carriers attached to the carriage and the rod is transversely displaced to maintain the edges of the unwound material in predetermined locations. The carriage carries a motor which drives a threaded spindle to impart transverse movement to the rod, the supports for the rod being secured to the carriage either fixedly or pivotably.

ite ttes Stumpi Jan. 8, 1974 CLOTH FOLDING MACHINE HAVING MEANS FOR CONTROL OF THE EDGES OF CLOTH UNWOUND FROM A ROLL [76] Inventor: Gunter Stumpf, Mehrstetten/Kreis Munsingen, Germany [22] Filed: June 9, 1971 [2]] Appl. No.: 151,433

2,088,473 7/1937 Gulliksen 226/20 X 3,107,036 10/1963 Richards et a1 226/19 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 668,205 3/1952 Great Britain 226/20 Primary Examiner-Robert W. Michell Attorney-Waters, Roditi, Schwartz and Nissen [5 7 ABSTRACT Material is unwound from a roll and deposited in layers by a reciprocating carriage supporting the roll. The roll is mounted on a rod supported in two carriers attached to the carriage and the rod is transversely displaced to maintain the edges of the unwound material in predetermined locations. The carriage carries a motor which drives a threaded spindle to impart transverse movement to the rod, the supports for the rod being secured to the carriage either fixedly or pivotably.

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures CLOTH FOLDING MACHINE HAVING MEANS FOR CONTROL OF THE EDGES OF CLOTH UNWOUND FROM A ROLL BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to material folding machines having means for controlling the position of the edges of the material as it is unwound from the rolls thereof.

In the edge-control arrangements hitherto used for cloth (or fabric) folding machines, the cloth roll carrier is in the form of a carriage adapted to be displaced by means of travel wheels on transverse struts connecting the lateral elements of the folding machine with each other. This construction has the result that the weight of the carriage is often greater than the weight of the roll of cloth bearing on the carriage.

With the progressively more rigorous demands being made with regard tomore rapid and edge-accurate folding, it is of course necessary that the control velocity with respect to such edge-control should be correspondingly increased. In order to be able to keep the drive units required for control within reasonable size limits, it is necessary to reduce to a minimum the mass to be displaced.

It is an object of the invention to provide a cloth fold ing machine having edge control means wherein a minimum mass is required to be displaced.

The invention contemplates an edge control arrangement for a cloth folding machine operating by a gear motor controlled by photoelectrical pulses.

According to the invention, the cloth folding machine with edge control comprises a coupling device between the gear motor and the cloth support rod and which, depending on the duration and/or direction of drive of the gear motor, reciprocates the rod carrying the roll of cloth in a direction to produce the edge control.

Further details will be apparent from the following description of several embodiments of the invention as shown in the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a folding machine with a device according to the invention for receiving a roll of cloth,

FIG. 2 is a section taken along line IIII of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a variant for edge control.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 shows a folding machine 1 which is driven by a gear motor 2 and is adapted to be reciprocated over a folding table 3. A web of cloth 5 is wound-off from a roll of cloth 4 and is fed via guide rollers 6 and 6' to a cloth feed roller 8 from which it passes to a severing or cutting device 9. Arranged between the guide rollers are two photoelectric sensing devices 7 scanning the cloth edges. The web of cloth is laid out in layers by reciprocal travel of the machine and is then cut by the severing means to form a package of layers 10. In this known folding machine, however, the carriage normally provided for displacement transversely of the cloth web is replaced by a device according to the invention for receiving the cloth roll. Of the components required for this purpose, only a flange 11 secured to the front side plate of the machine and carrying a gear motor 12 is visible in FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 is a section taken along line II-II, showing the retaining and controlling of the cloth roll. Secured at the front machine side plate 13 and the rear machine side plate 14, are respective cloth roll carriers 15 and 16.

Both carriers are inwardly recessed at their upper portions and are of fork-shaped configuration thereat. The carriers are lined in the forks with a material having sliding properties, for example Teflon" and the cloth roll 4 is carried in the forks. A collar 17 on the left-hand side of the cloth holding rod 18 engages in a groove in a transport nut 20 adapted to be reciprocated by rotation of a threaded spindle 19. In order that the transport nut can not rotate, it is guided underneath for example by means of a projection or the like in a longitudinal groove 21 formed in the cloth roll carrier 15. The gear motor 12 is coupled to the threaded spindle to drive the same when the motor receives control pulses in known manner from the photoelectric sensing devices. Thus, as the cloth web is drawn-off the roll, the roll can be displaced transversely without it being necessary to displace superfluous mass.

FIG. 3 shows a modified device for edge control. In this case, the driven shaft of the motor 12 is contructed as a hollow shaft having a female thread, so that a threaded spindle 22 is able to travel through the hollow shaft. Secured to the threaded spindle 22 is a ballmounted collet 23 such as is used, for example, on lathes. The cloth holding rod 18 is placed in the cloth roll carriers 15 and 16, pushed into the collet 23 and coupled, by closing the collet, with the threaded spindle 22, so that the cloth roll 4 is able to rotate freely but may be reciprocated by the threaded spindle in the axial direction for the purpose of edge control. A guide pin 24 extending through the threaded spindle is guided in a longitudinal groove 25 formed in the cloth roll carrier 15 and prevents rotation of the threaded spindle.

In all the cases described, the threaded spindle may be replaced by a guided rack reciprocated via a gearwheel secured on the driven shaft of the gearing.

The folding machien according to the invention may be used for the folding of cloth, leather, plastic and the like material.

What is claimed is:

1. In a material folding machine in which a roll of material is supported on a reciprocating carriage and material is adapted to be unwound and deposited in layers upon reciprocation of said carriage, an improvement comprising an edge control meansfor the material roll including roll carriers supported on each side of said carriage and having transverse inwardly extending portions, the inner ends of said inwardly extending portions terminating in upwardly extending bifurcated portions; axially projecting roll-supporting rod means extending from the sides of said material roll and being each slidably supported in the bifurcated upper ends of said carriers so as to support the material roll therebetween; collar means fastened to the free end of one said rod means; transport nut means connected to said collar means; drive means mounted on said carriage; horizontally extending threaded spindle means having one end thereof rotatably journalled in the upwardly extending inner end portion of one of said carriers and the other end operatively connected to said drive means, said spindle means extending through said transport nut means in threaded engagement therewith, said carrier supporting said spindle means having an sponse to rotation of the latter by said drive means upon lateral displacement of said material roll so as to effect edge control of said material roll. 

1. In a material folding machine in which a roll of material is supported on a reciprocating carriage and material is adapted to be unwound and deposited in layers upon reciprocation of said carriage, an improvement comprising an edge control means for the material roll including roll carriers supported on each side of said carriage and having transverse inwardly extending portions, the inner ends of said inwardly extending portions terminating in upwardly extending bifurcated portions; axially projecting rollsupporting rod means extending from the sides of said material roll and being each slidably supported in the bifurcated upper ends of said carriers so as to support the material roll therebetween; collar means fastened to the free end of one said rod means; transport nut means connected to said collar means; drive means mounted on said carriage; horizontally extending threaded spindle means having one end thereof rotatably journalled in the upwardly extending inner end portion of one of said carriers and the other end operatively connected to said drive means, said spindle means extending through said transport nut means in threaded engagement therewith, said carrier supporting said spindle means having an elongate aperture formed therein along its transversely extending portion, said transport nut means extending into said aperture so as to be restrained from rotation relative to said carrier, said transport nut means being axially displaceable along said spindle means in response to rotation of the latter by said drive means upon lateral displacement of said materiaL roll so as to effect edge control of said material roll. 